For seniors: Recommended for day services. Hands-on activities that help prevent dementia.
As we age, our muscle strength declines, making fine, hands-on tasks more difficult.
Because the nerves in our hands are connected to the brain, it’s said that moving our hands can help prevent dementia.
In this article, we introduce hands-on recreational activities for day service programs that train both the fingers and the brain.
With a focus on craft-based activities and finger-use games, they also help improve concentration.
Craft activities let participants enjoy the fun of creating, too.
There are many ideas to choose from, so try starting with the hands-on activities you’re most interested in.
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[For Seniors] Recommended for Day Services: Hands-on Activities for Dementia Prevention (71–80)
scratch art
Highly recommended for those who enjoy steady, hands-on work! Let me introduce scratch art sold at 100-yen shops.
You can create authentic artwork by using the included stick to scratch sheets that have designs applied with a special finish.
There’s a wide variety of designs—constellations, animals, flowers, landscapes, and famous characters—so just choosing one is fun.
It’s enjoyable to complete the design as-is for a vibrant result, but you can also freely customize it, allowing for many different ways to enjoy it depending on the person.
Because it involves fine work with your fingertips, it can also be expected to help with hand dexterity training and brain exercises.
Give it a try!
Sticky
Have you heard of a game called “Sticky”? You place three colors of sticks with different thicknesses inside a ring, roll a special die, and pull out a stick of the color that comes up.
The person who eventually knocks it over loses, and the others are ranked based on the points from the colors of the sticks they have pulled up to that point.
As turns progress, the number of sticks decreases, gradually upsetting the balance and making the latter half thrilling.
Beyond being a fun game, choosing which stick to pull and carefully extracting it can also serve as brain training.
Give it a try!
Space Rail
A build-it-yourself coaster where a steel ball rolls along two rails—that’s Space Rail.
Watching the ball make complex movements and speed through the course is truly exciting.
The difficulty varies by scale, but a simple set can be assembled in about an hour.
Since you work with your fingers while imagining the finished result, it can help develop creativity and concentration.
The sense of accomplishment when you complete it is exceptional.
Give it a try!
Puzzle Blocks
We’d like to introduce a 3D puzzle game where you cleverly combine blocks of different shapes to complete a form.
Within a limited frame, flipping, inverting, and repositioning the blocks through trial and error not only stimulates thinking, but the warm feel of the wood and the act of moving the pieces with your hands provide positive stimulation for the brain.
You can enjoy it on your own at a relaxed pace, or play with others and compete for time—there are plenty of ways to have fun.
Give it a try!
A game where you flip over plastic bottle caps placed in an egg carton
Using just a single disposable chopstick, flip the plastic bottle caps inside an egg carton.
If you’re deft, it can even look like you’re cooking takoyaki.
The trick is actually all about where you insert the chopstick and how you move it.
By rubbing the chopstick against the cap, the pressure makes the bottle cap spin around.
Because you’re using a tool and performing fine, precise movements, the stimulation travels from the hand to the brain, so you can also expect brain-training benefits.
If you time it, it becomes competitive, making it fun both solo and in small groups.
Flag-raising game
This is a game where you move red and white flags in your hands up and down according to given instructions.
Your ability to listen carefully and then move—distinguishing between commands like “raise” vs.
“don’t raise” and “lower” vs.
“don’t lower”—is put to the test.
Once you get used to it, it’s recommended to gradually increase the speed of the instructions.
By requiring quicker decisions, you can further stimulate the brain.
To help players focus on listening and moving, it’s also a good idea to make the flags easier to hold—for example, by forming them into rings.
Whack-a-mole with paper cups
This is a game where you use a hammer made from a paper cup with chopsticks attached to catch moles made from paper cups.
If you stack them quickly, the mole sticks to the hammer, and you use this to pick up the moles on the field in order.
A key rule is to remove the captured moles one by one, and this transfer process also exercises hand movements.
By competing to see how many moles you can collect within the time limit, it’s a game that trains concentration and quick reactions.